Journey into Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree National Park is one of those magical places that never gets old! With every visit, I always feel inspired by the atmosphere of this tranquil and beautiful environment! The park is so gigantic, it’s really tough to cover it all in one day, so definitely give yourself a couple of days to explore the entire place. On this particular trip, I decided to go to a couple exhibits I had never seen before!

My first stop was to visit the “Hall of Horrors” exhibit! I tried to look online to find out why it has that particular moniker, however, it seems that is just what it’s called! Nothing about it is frightening or haunted at all, in fact, it is rather beautiful! This rock formation is not as high as some of the other exhibits, but it is still just as lovely! The rocks themselves are nearly all at the same level, which makes it ideal for those who love bouldering and rock climbing.

Well, naturally I had to shoot my jewelry in there somewhere! Pictured on the left side is my peach stilbite stone and gold collar necklace. When I originally saw this stone, I knew it had to be a pendant of some sort! I thought that attaching it to a short collar would be a wonderful way to show off the stone’s beautiful colors and texture. On the right side is my vintage faux pearl teardrops, quartz stone chips, on a vintage silver 1960’s decorative link necklace. When I made it, I wanted to create a piece that was an unexpected take on traditional pearl jewelry. The vintage decorative links serve as a unique offset to the large, luminous pearl teardrops, and I added in the quartz chips for a touch of reflective light!

The photo above is from when I got a little lost in the park! But I ended up in a magnificent spot in which to take a photo! The landscape in Joshua Tree typically looks like this, and as you drive along, you get to see unique rock formations dotted along the desert. I was trying to find my way to Jumbo Rocks, but ended up here thinking I had passed it. (I didn’t go further in long enough!)

And, after turning around a couple of times, I finally found Jumbo Rocks! (I was doing this without a map, FYI!) It is a large campground, where you are situated in between lower rock formations that you can climb on! I took this photo because unlike the other rock exhibits, this particular area had a few different kinds of formations, some looked flat, some looked like large ridges, etc! You can literally never take a bad photo of this area, since the warm tones of the rocks against the blue sky are a stunning contrast with each shot.

Pictured on the left, was a large flat stone plateau that I was able to climb up on! Some of the formations are slanted, so it is an easy climb up to get a nice view of the Jumbo Rocks area. All around me were little desert lizards that also wanted to enjoy the scenic view! I also took a moment to get a marvelous photo of my geometric wire sculpture and topaz quartz earrings, in collaboration with artist Diana Dich. A few months ago, I commissioned Diana to create a wire sculpture for my friend, and she also included these mini wire sculptures as well! I decided to take them both and give them a little extra drama by adding some iridescent topaz coated quartz points onto them! To see more of Diana’s artwork online, please visit her website at www.dianadich.com.

Lastly, I had to take a photo of this hilarious looking rock formation! When I saw it, I immediately thought of a tyrannosaurus rex trying to reach a rock with its tiny arms! What do you see? Let me know in the comments below!

Joshua Tree is a magical and amazing place that you will want to visit over and over again! I certainly never get tired of it, and I have yet to explore all the other areas! For more information about the park, please visit their official website at: https://www.nps.gov/jotr/. If you’re looking to stay at a wonderful place right by the park entrance, check out my friend Kelsey’s 3 bedroom home on Airbnb at: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5884868?sug=51. Cell phone reception is spotty in the park, and there are no places to eat nearby. So definitely bring your own food, water, phone chargers, and toilet paper! Also, another useful tip is to use the portable bathrooms during the day–because at night, it can get uh…a little “exciting”! Hope you fall in love with this place as much as I did!

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